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Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Utah Touch League Kicking Off

Press Release

Salt Lake City, UT—Rugby Utah, the state’s sanctioned governing body for the sport, has released the schedule for the 2016 Touch Rugby League (TRL).

The Rugby Utah TRL is the country’s only USA Touch-sanctioned touch rugby competition. The competition runs from the week of July 11th to the end of September with the TRL Championships being hosted on October 1st.

In just its second year the TRL is looking to build upon 2015’s successful season in two distinct ways.

Firstly, plans for growth include a new high school division, in partnership with Utah Youth Rugby, and secondly, a berth for the TRL Men’s Elite Division champion team to represent Rugby Utah in the USA Touch National Championships in Florida in mid-October.

Take the jump to read more.The USA Touch National Championships pits teams from all over the country in a variety of divisions and with the new agreement with USA Touch the 2016 TRL Men’s Division Champion will be awarded Rugby Utah’s berth into the competition October 13-16.

“USA Touch is excited to have the winner of this competition represent Utah at the USA Touch Nationals,” said USA Touch President OJ Hawea, “Having one of the strongest base of rugby competitions in the country, it is only natural that USA Touch has sought out partnership with Rugby Utah to have a representative at our national event.”

“We are excited to watch and support this [Rugby Utah] competition,” went on to say, “and welcome the winner to the National Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at the Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida. It will also serve as an opportunity for the USA Touch national coaches to gain access to a larger player base as we plan for the Touch World Cup in 2019 to be held in Kuala Lumpur.”

The new high school division will offer the growing numbers of youth players in the Utah Youth Rugby community an opportunity to continue playing and developing their rugby skills in a recreational, yet competitive environment.

“We are excited to work with Rugby Utah and USA Touch to provide High School athletes with another avenue to grow and develop,” said Utah Youth Rugby President Owen Power, “Touch rugby is an excellent way for athletes to be exposed to rugby in a limited contact basis. Touch rugby is fast and requires a high level of fitness and it’s a great introduction to Rugby 7s the newest Olympic Sport debuting in Rio de Janeiro later this year.”

The Rugby Utah TRL will also continue to broaden it’s offerings for the Corporate Division after a successful competition that saw high tech start-up DOMO beat Adobe in 2015 championship.

The TRL will be played at the Wasatch Front centric location of Dimple Dell Recreational Facility in Sandy, UT.

New Director of the Touch Rugby League Will Racule is looking forward to an exciting series on all levels.

“Touch rugby is good way for people to stay in shape and have fun,” Racule said, “Plus for those that want to use it as a developmental game this competition allows for that as well. We’re excited to see this competition continue to grow.”

Registration for the high school division is on an individual player basis, while the registration for Men’s Elite and the Corporate Divisions will be done as a team. All players for both the Men’s Elite and Corporate Divisions will be required to fill out online individual registration and liability waivers.

Registration deadlines are set for June 27th with schedules being released July 6th. Early bird registration for the Men’s Elite and Corporate Co-Ed divisions is open until June 1st.